Gary Sturgis
| birth_place = New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | years_active = | occupation = Actor, voice actor | domesticpartner = }} Gary Anthony Sturgis (born November 3, 1966, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is as an American actor known for providing the voice of Ebon in the television series Static Shock. In addition to voice overs, Sturgis appeared in two of Tyler Perry's movies, Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Daddy's Little Girls, as well as the 2007 movie Pride, starring Terrence Howard, and co-stars in the independent feature directed by Cedric the EntertainerHollywood Reporter, March 12, 2008, Chicago Pulaski Jones. He also landed TV roles in his early career such as a recurring character by the name of Caz in the General Hospital spin-off, Port Charles, as well as smaller roles on The District, NYPD Blue, Malcolm and Eddie and Girlfriends. Personal life Sturgis is the second oldest son of four born to Abraham and Sarah Sturgis. He grew up in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana, and attended McDonogh Senior High School where he played piccolo and served as drum major for the band. After writing an essay for a class assignment expressing his love and desire for acting, a teacher invited him to a table read for a play, and Sturgis was cast as the understudy; later going on to play the lead role of A Raisin in The Sun. He soon landed roles in productions filmed in New Orleans such as Blaze and The Big Easy. In 1992, Sturgis married his college sweetheart, Jennifer Grimes, who he met at University of New Orleans. The pair moved to Los Angeles where she landed a job as an assistant talent agent at a top-tier talent agency. Shortly thereafter, Sturgis was signed at the agency. They have two sons, Evan and Dane. Voice career In the mid 1990s, he began booking voice over jobs in commercials and trailers. He served as the voice of the Monday night (and later Tuesday night) lineup on the now defunct UPN network, promoting such shows as The Parkers, Moesha, Half & Half, Girlfriends, The Hughleys and many others. Simultaneously in 1997 and 1998, he was also the daily announcer for the late night talk show, VIBE, starring Chris Spencer and later, comedian Sinbad. Sturgis never had a contract for either job stating that he would just "keep coming everyday until they tell me to stop." This lasted for the duration of the network and the talk show respectivelyInland Valley Voice "Sounds Like A Good Career, Aug 22, 2002, page 2. Sturgis graced the cover of Hollywood Reporter in 2002 in celebration of his voice over efforts. In addition to promos for network TV, he also did several Hollywood movie trailers such as Bones, The Wood, Crossroads, Two Can Play That Game, and The Others. He played several animated roles landing himself in cartoons, feature films and in video games. A partial list includes, Static Shock, Scooby Doo and The Cyber Chase, Batman Beyond, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and The Fairly OddParents: Wishology. Video game titles include Shout About Music, True Crime, Evil Dead, Spider-Man 2, and Red Faction. In February 2009 he worked on Blokhedz animated web series on Missiong.com and did the voice of Biskit, the leader of the biker gang Wild Dawgs. Writing In October 2008, Sturgis began working as a staff writer for Tyler Perry Studios on the shows Tyler Perry's House of Payne and Meet the Browns, both on TBS. This would mark his first professional writing job. His first credited episode of Tyler Perry's House of Payne aired on December 16, 2008. Voice acting career References 1Cedric to Helm Chicago Pulaski Jones 2Gary Sturgis: The Sweet Sound of Success External links * Category:African American film actors Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:American voice actors Category:People from New Orleans, Louisiana pl:Gary Anthony Sturgis fi:Gary Sturgis